Family of Buffalo hit and run victim seek answers as police continue to investigate two weeks later
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — It's now been two weeks since a woman was hit and killed by a cyber truck in Buffalo's Lovejoy neighborhood, and there still has not been arrest made in the case.
Police responded to William and Davey Streets shortly after 10 p.m. on Thursday, July 17. The vehicle, which police confirmed was a Tesla Cybertruck, had fled the scene.
The victim’s family and police sources confirmed to WIVB News 4 that Paache Spikes-Redding died. She was 37 years old. A GoFundMe can be found here.
Police located the vehicle involved and are still investigating. That is the only information that has been released since the crash.
WIVB News 4's repeated requests for more information from Buffalo Police have been met with a response that the department does not comment on ongoing investigations.
In the weeks following the crash, the family remains hopeful that justice will be served, but they're also frustrated that the person responsible has yet to be charged. Spikes-Redding's husband, Gregory Redding, tells us that it's been over a week since he's heard from police.
"It's very upsetting. There's no justice being brought," Redding said. "I'm sitting here thinking, like, what's going on? Why is this person still able to walk freely on this earth? He could book a flight to another city, or state, or country, and ya'll would never catch this person."
Redding expressed frustration that he hasn't received an update in the case. He tells WIVB News 4 that he still has not received his late wife's belongings.
"What would I say to the police? Why ya'll not doing your job, or ya know, informing me on something, like new evidence, or why haven't I got her belongings back?" Redding asked. "I'm still waiting on my car keys that she took that night. Why I ain't get her sneakers or purse and stuff like that? There's information in there that I might need."
So, why is an investigation like this taking so long, and why haven't police provided an update? Those are questions we sought to get answered by two law enforcement experts, both of whom have history working with the Buffalo Police Department.
They tell WIVB News 4 that cases like this are generally very involved and can take a considerable amount of time to investigate, often times requiring many subpoenas that require a considerable amount of evidence to acquire.
"The subpoena first and foremost would start with the vehicle itself, getting a warrant for the vehicle to download the vehicle, and then you start moving from that direction whether you get into phones, and the apps on the phones, you have to locate the phone, then you have to get a subpoena for the phone," explained former Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.
Cases like this can sometimes take many months to investigate, if not a year, according to former Buffalo Police Captain Jeff Rinaldo.
"It's not uncommon, some of these cases have taken a year or more to bring together and to eventually hold somebody accountable for," Rinaldo said. "With electric vehicles, which are 100-percent electronic and data driven vehicles, they're fly-by wire and things of that nature, it can take a considerable amount of time to get that information digested, come up with a reconstruction of how the accident occurred."
In order for cases like this to be successfully prosecuted, all of the evidence needs to be gathered and brought before the District Attorney, a lengthy process that law enforcement needs to ensure is accurate so that charges can be brought forth.
The family of Spikes-Redding will be holding a memorial at 1 p.m. on Aug. 2 on Langfield Drive where they plan to release balloons to honor her memory.
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Rob Petree is an anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in 2025. See more of his work by clicking here.